The Billonaire’s ruthless regret

RUINED

CHAPTER 2

RUINED

RILEY'S POV

The two lead detectives were standing across from him, holding their notebooks and speaking in very quiet, serious voices, but Vincent did not seem to be listening to them.

I stood near the door, my fingers digging into the fabric of my dress, and my mind was still spinning.

"I want to know exactly what happened," Vincent said, but the detectives did not look up from their papers right away.

"We are still gathering information, Mr. Hawthorne," the older detective said, rubbing his face with his hand, "but the car definitely belongs to your wife, and the body we found in the ditch matches the identification of your sister, Mia."

Before Vincent could say another word, the office door swung open and his cousin Bianca walked in.

Her eyes were bright red from crying, and her dyed blonde hair was completely messy, and she was pulling a young, trembling woman along by the arm.

The woman was wearing a wet server's uniform from the catering company, and she kept looking down at the carpet like she was terrified to be there.

"Vincent, you need to listen to her," Bianca said, her voice shaking badly as she pushed the server forward. "This is Clara, she was working at the back bar near the driveway tonight, and she saw everything."

Vincent turned toward the server, and the girl swallowed hard.

"Tell him what you told me, Clara," Bianca urged, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"I went out to the back parking lot to take my break," the server whispered, her voice very shaky, "and I saw the white sedan speeding away from the house. It was raining really hard, but a few minutes later, I heard a loud crash down the road, so I ran toward the sound. I saw the car flipped over in the ditch, and then I saw a woman climbing out of the driver's side window. She was running into the dark, and she looked exactly like Mrs. Hawthorne."

"That is a lie!" I shouted, stepping forward into the center of the room, and my heart was beating so fast I could barely think. "I was inside the house the whole time, and I gave my keys to Mia in the garden because she wanted to drop her friend home!"

"Then why did Clara see you running away, Riley?" Bianca asked, turning to me with a look of pure anger. "And how do you explain this? The police just found it in the driver's footwell of the crashed car."

Bianca reached into her small leather purse and pulled out a shiny object, and she held it up so Vincent could see it.

It was a gold locket shaped like a heart, and it had a tiny red smudge of blood right across the front.

My breath caught because I recognized it instantly. It was the exact anniversary locket Vincent had bought for me last year, and I always kept it on my bedroom vanity.

"Vincent, I didn't do this," I said, looking at my husband and reaching out to touch his arm, but he flinched away from me. "I don't know how that locket got into the car, I swear to you I was inside the ballroom with you."

I looked into his eyes, begging him to say something to defend me, but I watched his grief turn into a terrifying, silent rage.

He didn't look like the man who had been holding my hand on the dance floor just an hour ago. He didn't ask me a single question, and he didn't wait for the detectives to finish their notes or look for fingerprints.

"Get the security team up to the study right now," Vincent said into the speaker, and his voice was dead and flat.

"Vincent, please," I cried, tears finally spilling down my cheeks, "you have to listen to me, someone is framing me, I loved Mia like my own sister!"

The study doors opened again, and four of Vincent’s massive security guards stepped in.

"Take her out of my house," Vincent said, pointing a finger at me, and he didn't even look at my face when he said it. "Get her out of my sight right now."

Two of the guards grabbed my arms, their grips so tight, and they started pulling me backward out of the study.

I screamed and tried to plant my feet against the floor, but they were too strong, and they dragged me out.

Guests were still around, and they all stopped and stared at me as the guards pushed me down.

I wasn't wearing my green gown anymore, and somewhere in the middle of everything, they had forced me into a thin nightgown that offered no protection from the cold.

The front doors were thrown open, and the guards shoved me into the pouring rain.

The freezing water hit my bare skin, making me shiver violently.

Two men were waiting by the hood of a parked police car, and they were holding a stack of papers.

I recognized them as Vincent’s corporate lawyers, and their faces looked completely blank as they spread the documents out. One of them pressed a black pen into my shaking hand.

"Sign these immediately, Riley," the lawyer said, his voice completely cold. "It's an immediate divorce agreement, and you are waiving all rights to the Hawthorne estate, properties, and funds."

"I am not signing this," I sobbed, dropping the pen on the wet car, "I didn't do anything wrong."

One of the security guards stepped closer to me and he picked up the pen and forced it back into my fingers.

"If you don't sign, Mr. Hawthorne will let the police arrest you for murder right now," the guard said. "Sign the papers, Riley."

My hands were shaking so badly but I dragged the pen across the bottom of the pages, and signed it. The lawyer quickly scooped the documents up and slid them into a plastic folder.

I looked up and saw Vincent, his arms was crossed over his chest, and his eyes were completely dead and unblinking as he stared down at me.

"If you ever try to contact me again, or if you ever use the Hawthorne name anywhere in the world, I will make sure you disappear permanently," Vincent said.

"I am throwing you out tonight because I haven't decided what to do with you yet, and when I am finally stable, I will come back and ruin your life slowly."